Making the most of my year abroad 30

estate, I was always home by 3pm. I spent my afternoons visiting museums and art galleries, sipping cortados en terraza, or sunbathing on the beach. I interned at AIMPLAS in-person for four months but had to complete the final two months online from the UK. I’d come home for Christmas the day Europe closed the borders to the UK because of COVID concerns. I remember calling my dad in a panic because I didn’t know if I could get home. Turns out, returning to the UK wasn’t the problem! But getting back into Spain was. Even with evidence of employment, sufficient funds, and accommodation - because I didn’t have exactly the right kind of document - I could not return to Spain. Thank you, Brexit! And if cutting my time in Spain short wasn’t enough, getting into France became incredibly difficult. Brexit meant very strict visa requirements. I remember travelling to the French Visa Office in Manchester twice because they got my biometrics wrong. Then COVID sent France into lockdown, pushing my arrival back by a month and introducing new health measures, including a mandatory 7 days isolation for anyone travelling from…you guessed it, the UK! Not ideal, but once again I’d made it against all odds.

At Domaine Gayda it fell to me to organise and run their wine tours and tastings! I was hired primarily to speak with English clients, but I got to help French and Spanish customers too. I learnt how to identify the tasting notes of each wine, how long they were aged, their different vinification processes, and the best meal pairings - it was an amazing experience!

However for some reason I found it harder to adjust to life there than in Spain. In Valencia, with public transport so readily available, I’d had the freedom to do whatever I wanted, whenever, and wherever. Adjusting to life out there was so much easier because I was able to keep myself busy, and therefore distracted from any potential negative thoughts.

Brugairolles had none of this. The independence I’d found in Spain vanished. If I wanted to travel anywhere, or even just go to a cafe, I had to ask for a lift. It felt wrong, like I was asking for permission to live my life, and I could feel my anxiety worsening. Eventually I withdrew from all social activity, spending my time alone in my room. I got so depressed that I almost went home. What kept me going was remembering how much adversity I had already overcome to make that year happen. It took a month, but I pulled myself from the fog, asked my friend Julia to drop me off at the train station, and took a weekend trip to Narbonne. It changed everything. I ended up travelling somewhere new almost every weekend after that!

Looking back on my year abroad now, I laugh at the chaos. While many of these experiences made me want to tear my hair out at the time, if things hadn’t happened the way they did, I wouldn’t have met all the incredible people I know now. I wouldn’t have these amazing stories to share. And I certainly wouldn’t be the confident, determined, and resilient person I am today.

By Harriet Rothwell-Inch